GoKawiilFake filmmaker's copyright suit against private torrent trackers collapses
A plaintiff calling himself Matthew Schneider sued private torrent trackers including PassThePopcorn, BroadcasTheNet and HDBits, claiming they infringed his copyrighted films while seeking to unmask their operators via Cloudflare. The real filmmaker who made the cited films swore he had no connection to the case, and after being pressed to explain, the plaintiff voluntarily dropped the lawsuit rather than clarify the discrepancy.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
This was reportedly the first copyright case to target multiple major private torrent trackers at once, making its collapse under suspicion of fraud a significant setback for anti-piracy litigation tactics. The episode suggests the suit may have been a bad-faith attempt, possibly by a banned tracker user, to weaponize copyright law for revenge rather than genuine rights protection, and the judge has signaled sanctions remain possible despite the dismissal.
- A supposed filmmaker sued major private trackers like PassThePopcorn and HDBits over copyright infringement.
- The real filmmaker denied any involvement, exposing the plaintiff as a likely impostor using identical film titles.
- The plaintiff dismissed the case after scrutiny, but could still face court sanctions for a potentially frivolous, deceptive claim.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-09-15
Published there as: ““Filmmaker” suing PassThePopcorn may be banned user out for revenge”
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